Partial Molar Volumes and Refractions of Cobalt(III) Complexes, Part 2: Homologous Series of Nitrilopentaamminecobalt(III) Complexes

Both the partial molar volumes (V° _2m refractions (R° _2m ) of the solutes at infinite dilution have been determined at 20 °C for a series of six octahedral N₆-coordinated cobalt(III) species featuring five coordinated ammonia ligands along with a sixth N-coordinated organonitrile of increasing ligand size (from acetonitrile to sebaconitrile). The experimental values for V° _2m are consistent with the relative sizes of the ligands but show larger values than those generated by computer modeling as the size of the cation increases, presumably due to the void space of the cation which increases with the size of the nitrile ligand.